Ed Markey: “the Republican Party has taken an opportunity to make a positive contribution to the commemoration of the 9/11…”

“the Republican Party has taken an opportunity to make a positive contribution to the commemoration of the 9/11 anniversary and turned it into a partisan ploy that divides our country and this Congress. What a huge missed opportunity and disservice to our Nation. At the same time, they have undertaken a coordinated, cynical, political campaign to impugn the patriotism of any Democrat who dares to question, dares to criticize, dares to suggest that there may be a better, safer way of protecting our country. The Republicans include in this resolution legislation that divides our country, not just Democrats and Republicans in Congress; but they include in this resolution the Republican border security bill, the PATRIOT Act, other bills that they know divide Democrats from Republicans and Americans from other Americans. If they want to go down the path, there are other issues that divide Democrats from Republicans. Democrats want to implement all of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. They want to make sure that every one of them is put on the books. The Republicans oppose implementing all of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. In other areas they oppose having full security built around chemical plants in the United States. There are nightclubs in New York City that are harder to get into than chemical plants in our country. Nuclear power plants, they oppose the hardening of the spent fuel facilities next to nuclear power plants in our country.…”